Heidi Durham

Durham was one of the first female electricians to work at Seattle City Light, where she faced significant barriers due to pervasive sexism and suffered a nearly fatal accident that left her paralyzed for the rest of her life.

Her older siblings participated in anti-war protests at the University of California, Berkeley and in desegregation efforts with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

[6] In addition, many male electricians who Durham worked with had become demoralized after a failed strike in 1975 and were angered by the women trainees' court victory.

[7] Durham faced persistent harassment and unfair performance evaluations in which she was given worse ratings than her male colleagues that accused her of not possessing adequate strength for the job.

Despite the obvious and pervasive sexism she faced, Durham chose to not sue the union, as she did not want to sow further division among City Light workers.

[8] She believes that the decision to allow her to become a power station operator was motivated by the political pressure placed on City Light from Clara Fraser's lawsuit.

Both candidates ran as members of the Freedom Socialist Party and campaigned on the demands of a guaranteed income for families living in poverty, community control of the police, and the extension of domestic partnership rights to same-sex couples.

[14] In 2004, she served as a member of the Seattle Organizing Committee for the Million Worker March on Washington, DC, where she was a featured speaker.